Calling all California alumni! The School of Engineering will host alumni receptions in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this month, featuring UConn President Susan Herbst as our special guest. Don’t miss this special opportunity to network with fellow alumni and learn the latest news about your alma mater!  Details are as follows:

Los Angeles – Thursday, January 30, 2014 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
InterContinental Los Angeles Century City, 2151 Avenue of the Stars
Details & RSVP

San Francisco – Friday, January 31, 2014, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
The City Club of San Francisco, 155 Sansome Street
Details & RSVP

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Stay in touch with fellow UConn engineering alumni. Visit our Engineering LinkedIn alumni page and fill us in on your latest activities or learn what your college friends are doing nowadays!  Some recent alumni news follows:

Richard Mastracchio (B.S.  Electrical Engineering/Computer Science, ’82) and fellow astronaut Mike Hopkins completed two extra vehicular activities (space walks) during December to replace a malfunctioning pump on the International Space Station. The broken pump is linked to one of the station’s external cooling loops, which circulate ammonia outside of the space station to regulate equipment temperatures. Read about the challenging task here. This is Rick’s fourth trip to the International Space Station.

Michelle M. Scherer (M.S. Civil & Environmental Engineering, ‘94) is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa. Dr. Scherer earned her PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (1998) and has expertise in Fe redox cycling and biogeochemistry, nanoscience in geochemistry, environmental chemistry, ground water remediation, Mössbauer spectroscopy and electrochemistry.

Christopher Shores, P.E. (B.S., Environmental Engineering, ’07) is an Environmental Engineer at CH2M HILL specializing in the field of soil and groundwater remediation.  Christopher has five years’ experience designing treatment systems for private and governmental clients with petroleum, chlorinated solvent, and metals contaminated sites. Prior to his current position, he worked as an Environmental Engineer II at AECOM. Christopher received his M.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2011.

Mark P. Vergnano (B.S. Chemical Engineering, ‘80), Executive Vice President of DuPont, will serve as CEO of the new, independent $7 billion Performance Chemicals company after its separation from DuPont, which is expected to occur in second quarter 2015. He has overseen the Performance Chemicals segment since 2009. With 33 years’ experience at DuPont, Mark has held diverse business, manufacturing and technical leadership positions around the world – including leading several global businesses. Mark is an elected member of UConn’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers and Hall of Fame; serves on the Board of Directors for the Delaware Council for Economic Education, Johnson Controls, Inc.  and the U.S. National Safety Council; and serves on the Advisory Boards for the UConn School of Engineering and the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business and Economics.